


The Story

by RavenThePhantomThief



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Confusing, Dialogue Heavy, F/M, Humor, Love, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slapstick, Streets at night, Tokio at night, Weird Dialogues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-16
Updated: 2018-09-05
Packaged: 2018-12-21 04:10:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11936037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavenThePhantomThief/pseuds/RavenThePhantomThief
Summary: Ryuji and Ann know that Akira has a story to tell and they really want to hear it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ann and Ryuji know that Akira has a Story to tell and they want to hear it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started this fanfiction for the "#shippingtrash" competition on the Amino, but I failed the deadline and everything else. This fanfiction is far from finished and I decided to split it into chapters so that you can at least see a small part of it. Thanks to Ubershooter, who took the time and corrected a lot of my mistakes and stuff. She writes fanfictions too, so take a look at her stuff.
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ubershooter/pseuds/Ubershooter
> 
> If you liked my fanfiction please leave a comment and/or take a look at my other works.
> 
> Have fun reading and have a nice day. ^^

It was a warm Sunday morning. Normally, the Café with the beautiful name "LeBlanc" would be closed at a time like this, but there were two blond people sitting on the counter and stared at the barista behind it. Akira was a bit annoyed. He only wanted to clean a few cups Sojiro had forgotten the other day and make a coffee for himself. But now there were two people sitting in front of him, staring at him with wide eyes like they just saw Yusuke flying away on a giant purple lobster. He sighed and threw the dishtowel into the sink. "The café is closed you know? But you're lucky that I've decided to be polite and ask you too if you want a coffee or something?" Nobody reacted. After a few seconds, Ryuji opened his mouth. "Tell us!" His voice sounded commanding. Akira raised an eyebrow. "So you want me to tell you if you want some coffee? Well, your eyes are bigger than Akechi's love for pancakes. I am sure that you two are already awake, but you might want to drink a cup just for the good taste of it? At least Ann might do so." Ryuji stood up and slammed his hands on the counter. "Tell us what happened!" The black-haired boy didn't look at him. Instead, he concentrated on preparing some coffee beans for himself. "Not so loud. You'll wake up Morgana." He turned around and put the glass with the beans back on the shelf. "And I have no idea what you want from me."

"Your face!" This time, it was Ann who said something. She pointed at him. "What happened to your face?" The barista looked at the mirror above the kitchen sink. His right eye was blue and swollen. On his nose was a big bandage and under it were stains of dried blood. He smirked at his pitiful look. "I don't think that I look any different." He smirked a bit more and started to clean his glasses. "Maybe a bit more handsome than usual, don't you think?" Ryuji leaned over the counter and stared into his face. "Was it Makoto?" Akira's smirk vanished from his lips.

"What?"

"You help Makoto with some work in the student council room yesterday, didn't you? You did something wrong and she effed you up, am I right?"

"No. Why would Makoto beat me?"

"Well, you have to admit that she has some anger issues. Since she got her Persona. You know, her true self and stuff."

"I know, but no! She wasn't angry at me and she didn't beat me!"

"So she was angry at someone! Was she angry at the guy that punched you? Seriously, dude, you look like you tried to stop a train with your lips! What happened?"

"You wanna know what happened? Someone threw a first-aid-kit at me!"

The blond boy laughed. "That would be too much irony, even for your life!" Akira sighed again and crossed his arms. "Okay. Okay! Can you stop being such an annoying person? I am not in the mood for this stuff right now!" The delinquent sat back down, his hands still on the counter. "Only if you tell the story." The boy with the frizzy hair looked at the coffee beans in front of him. There was no way he could have a good morning now. "I'll tell you the story if you promise that you won't annoy me for the rest of the day, okay?"

"Wow, Akira. You're really passive-aggressive today. What happened to you?"

But their leader didn't answer Ann's question. He only looked in the direction of the stairs. "I guess I have some time, but I won't repeat anything, so listen carefully.

_[ The day before (Saturday), Student Council Room, Shujin Academy ]_

I arrived at the student council room, a few minutes after the last lesson was finished. A normal student would get stuck in the crowd of students, but not me. Other people avoided me with a huge passion. If it wasn't that dangerous, they would prefer to jump out of the window, to avoid using the same stairs as me, you know? It is tough but it can be useful too.

I knocked on the door and waited for an answer. Nothing happened. I knocked again. Nothing. I opened the door and went inside. Makoto sat at the table and looked through a book. "Makoto? I am here to help you with your work like I promised. Is everything alright?" The girl pointed silently at a big grey locker in a corner of the room. She told me about it a few days ago. The principle granted them the permission to buy something new for the student council room and they decided to get a new locker for important documents. "The guy who has the key left and forgot about me." Her voice had a neutral tone and I wasn't sure if she was disappointed or angry. She took her phone out of her pocket and started to dial a number from the book she was looking through. Makoto put it to her ear and waited. "Oh, the mailbox," she smiled a bit. Maybe she wasn't that angry about that? But as soon as she could leave a message, she started to unleash her wrath! "Okay, listen up bitch nugget! If you want me to look for the documents and get some work done, please don't just take the key with you and leave me here. Can you remember that with your little monkey brain?" She put her phone back in her pocket and stood up. "So you can not do anything now? That's bad. Are you okay Makoto? I think you should calm down a bit."

"I am fine, I just need some fresh air." She walked to the other end of the room and opened a window. She took a deep breath and waited for a moment. "No, that doesn't work." Makoto turned around and looked at the chairs. She grabbed a small one and lifted it up. "Yes. I am sure this works perfectly." She turned around again, this time with much more force, and threw the furniture out of the window. For a few seconds, everything was silent. Then I heard a loud noise. I stared at the open window. Makoto just stood there, breathing heavily. "Well, that was refreshing. Now the locker. Maybe I can smash it open." That wasn't normal. She wouldn't do such a thing under normal circumstances. "Okay, what is happening here?" I grabbed her shoulder and turned her around. "Are you really okay?" I froze when I saw her face. She had dark circles under her eyes. Her hair looked normal at first, but now I saw strands of hair that stuck out everywhere from her head. "Hey, Makoto. How much work do you really have to do? You said you had to do some paperwork, but there's more isn't there? Is that why you didn't show up at the meetings in Leblanc for the last two weeks?"

"A lot of people didn't show up to school. They're all visiting the hospital, cause their paranoid. They are all thinking that they have some sickness or a food poisoning cause they ate something from Okumura foods."

I have to admit that I totally forgot already about the scandal with Okamura Foods, but it wasn't important right now.

"And you didn't ask for help? Did you talk to anyone about it?"

"I didn't want to bother anybody."

If Makoto wasn't a girl, I would have slapped her. She looked like she hadn't slept for a month. What if she collapsed somewhere! That was really dangerous.

"You need to rest, you know? At this rate, you'll get sick or something."

"I can't."

"WHAT? Why?"

"Because I can't rest when I still have work to do! And don't worry, I get enough sleep!"

"I would believe you if your eyes didn't look like you are slowly morphing into a panda! If you can't sleep, you can at least do something fun to prevent you from going totally crazy!"

"Something fun, hm?"

Her eyes were directed to the ceiling. They moved around like she was searching for something. Even if she was able to start thinking about his words, she had forgotten about it now. Right now she was a walking coma-patient. "Okay look," I looked up to the ceiling too. I had to think about something. "I have an idea. It is okay if you say you can't rest because you have so much stuff on your brain, but you should take a break from all this or you won't get anything done! Go home, eat something, change into more comfortable clothes and then meet me in Shibuya. We'll do something fun to help you to calm down." The girl looked at me with a confused look. I grabbed her hands and held them in my own. She blushed. "Promise me to meet me in Shibuya." Her eyes were wide open now like she was sleepwalking the whole time and I woke her up with my action. Suddenly the door got smashed open.

"Who threw a chair out of the window?"

Kawakami stood in the doorframe and looked at us. Makoto turned her head slightly to the right to look at her, but she didn't seem to realize who entered the room. I turned my head to face her as well, but not as my teacher.

"Becky I swear if you ruin this moment!"

"I am sorry!"

She stepped back and closed the door again. The girl stared at me. There was that confused look again. The situation was rather tense. How pitiful. "So we both go home now and make ourselves ready to meet up in Shibuya. Let's say we meet there in... are three hours okay? Yes? Good, let's do this." I let her hands go and grabbed my bag. I didn't give her the chance to say anything. I swung my school bag over my shoulder, waking up Morgana who was sleeping in it and walked to the door. "I am looking forward to our date!" I waited a few seconds until I was sure that her brain had processed the words. "... A date... wait... a date!"

I ran down the stairs. "So, what exactly just happened?" A tired Morgana sticks his head out of my back. I stepped outside of the school building. It was cold, but the sun was shining brightly. I covered my eyes with one hand to protect them from the intense light.

"Something really good happened."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here is a new chapter of "The Story". I enjoy writing this story as much as I am enjoying every other writing so it is kinda hard to update them regularly, but I am trying to update them as fast as possible, without ruining the storytelling or everything else (I hope).
> 
> As always Uber read and corrected the most things. She writes fanfictions too, so go and read her story!
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ubershooter

_[ Today (Sunday), Café Leblanc, Yongen Jaya ]_

Ann and Ryuji stared at him.

"Makoto threw a chair out of the window?"

"Why did you call Miss Kawakami Becky?"

"Waaait! You and Makoto had a date? Sweet dude! Didn't you always want to ask her for a date?"

Akira took a sip of his coffee. He looked at Ryuji and then at Ann. The blond boy remembered that the girl was here. "Oh damn. Did I just break the Bro-Code?" Ann peered at him. "What's that?"

"If a boy tells another boy on which girl he has a crush on, he isn't allowed to tell others about it. Especially girls that can't keep it a secret."

"What? I can totally keep a secret!"

"No you can't."

"Yes I can- wait, you have a crush on Makoto? OMG, she has a crush on you too!"

"You literally just proved my point, girl!"

"Can you two shut up? I want to hear what happened next!" The two blondes turned around. Futaba and Yusuke were sitting at a table behind them. "Since when were you two here?" Yusuke chuckled. "I like to start my Sunday morning with a nice cup of coffee. That's why I came here a few minutes ago. But you two were so focused on Akira's story that you didn't notice me." Futaba was jumping nervously on the opposite seat. "Come on, continue the story! I wanna hear everything! I waited so long that all the fanfictions I wrote about you two are finally coming through!... Can you pretend that you didn't hear that last sentence? Please."

"You are really creepy sometimes, you know that?" Ryuji whispered the sentence so that no one could hear his comment. Akira put his cup down and looked at the two newcomers. "So, before I continue with the story, I am going to ask. Do you guys want to drink a coffee or something? " The artist and the geek both nodded and the barista started to work again, watching his lazy Sunday morning slowly sinking down the drain. "Okay, back to my story."

_[ The day before (Saturday), Central Street, Shibuya ]_

I told Morgana to hang out at Futaba's place or something like that before I left Leblanc. That's why I stood alone in front of the subway entrance in the central street. I had to admit I was kinda nervous. Not because of the people around me. The town was the exact opposite of the school. While the other students followed all my steps to make sure they could avoid me, the people in the city didn't even notice me. It was like I was invisible and in today's society, being invisible is called being normal. I watched the people that came from the subway and walked away in every direction until a girl stopped in front of me.

Do you know those kind of situations when you are so used to the clothes someone wears, that everything else they're wearing makes them look better? I don't want to say that I didn't like Makoto's normal clothes. I am just trying to describe the strange feeling that I had when I realized that the girl in front of me was Makoto. She followed my advice and changed into some comfortable clothes. Makoto was wearing dark sandals and wide black trousers. Her entire upper body was clothed with an oversized white T-Shirt that covered her hip and ended at her thigh. She wore a black watch on her left wrist. Her messy hair was hidden under a baseball cap which was also coloured black and white. I had to admit that the black and white theme just fitted her. She looked so different. It was refreshing but somehow natural at the same time. I was just wearing a plain white shirt and my black jacket and I felt overdressed. "Hello, Akira." She gave me a weak smile. "Hi," I answered immediately, like some idiot from a comedy-romance movie. I felt like I should shout _I'm in lesbians with you!_!... Now I understood how Scott Pilgrim felt. "So. What are we going to do now? I don't know what else you can do in Shibuya besides visiting the Arcade or the Cinema. You don't want to stay in a bookstore all day, do you?"

I needed a few seconds to remember what I had in mind for today. "Oh no, we won't do anything here. I just wanted to meet you here, cause this place is easy to reach for both of us. We will take a train to another part of the city." I walked to the entrance of the train station. For one moment, I thought about taking her hand, but I hesitated. I just turned around and smiled at her. "Come on, we are going to miss the train." 

"Oh, yes. Sorry!"

* * *

Makoto and I were able to get two seats next to each other. Normally the train would be crowded with students and other people, but today the train appeared empty. I watched our reflections in the window on the opposite wall. How we sat there, staring at the glass. No one said a word. It was silent. An awkward silence. A brutal silence. It was my fault. I wasn't prepared for these kind of situations. I didn't prepare anything for this situation.

"I am sorry!"

"...For what exactly?"

"For everything!"

"I am pretty sure that you aren't accountable for everything."

"Yes I am."

"So you are the reason that children in Africa don't have enough food?"

"..."

"..."

"Well, maybe not for everything, but everything in this train."

"So you were the one who bit a piece out of my seat."

"Well... I was... very hungry at that one time..."

I hope that everyone is smart enough to realize that that was a joke. I tried to lighten up the mood a bit, but in the end, it was Makoto who did that. This girl made grieving pretty hard. "Usually I am reading books when I am on the train. I am not used to talking with someone here, especially when it is this quiet. I don't really know what I should talk about." The girl looked at me like I said something stupid. The next sentence proved me that I really did. "Then why don't you talk about the books that you are reading?" That was the most obvious thing and I am sitting here like an idiot, fumbling with my words. I was glad that Makoto took the lead in this conversation. "Is there a special kind of story that you prefer? I talked with Ann about books one time and she merely reads romantic novels." Yes, that sounded exactly like Ann. She was the kind of girl that liked such stuff. "Well," I tried to answer her question. "I don't think that there is a kind of story I prefer over others. I just read what I have or what looks interesting. Right now I am really into the stories of Lafcadio Hearn."

"Oh, a foreign author? So you are interested in foreign stories too? Most people I know don't like the stories from other countries."

Well, it is true that Lafcadio was born in another country, but he spent most time of his life in Japan. You might know him under the name Koizumi Yakumo."

Oh, yes I know that author. He is famous for his novels about Japanese legends and ghost stories. I believe I read about him in a magazine a few years ago. _"Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things"_ is one of his more popular books. I think it is kinda interesting that people refer to him as " _the man who found japan_ " because his works were really popular in western countries and shaped their view of Japan."

I sighed. I didn't know about this. But that is just how it is. If you try to have small talk with Makoto Niijima, you are gonna lose against her. Despite the fact that small talk isn't competitive. What made my defeat even worse was the fact that she just kept going on. 

"...- and he worked as a teacher in the town Matsue in the western parts of Japan and - Oh now I remember! There is a museum called " _Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum_ " in Matsue, isn't there? I always wondered who he was. Now I know it."

"... You really know everything, don't you?"

She smiled at me.

"I don't know everything, I only know what I know."

I chuckled and bore down the urge to ask her if she could wear my aviator glasses. Instead, I tried to focus on the conversation. "What are you reading at the moment, Makoto?"

"That's a good question. Lately, I am really enjoying Light Novels. Nisio Isin's Monogatari-Series is my favourite."

"Really? That is surprising. I never thought that you were interested in a story with such a protagonist. Don't get me wrong I really like those books too, but isn't Koyomi Araragi a bit too perverted for you?"

"I know what you want to say, but I think it is just an honest character design. And in the end, he makes the right decisions and helps people who can't solve their problems alone. If I think about it, he is a lot like you."

"What?"

I didn't really know if I should feel honoured or insulted. But I forgot about that when Makoto started to laugh. I didn't care if I was a hero or a pervert when it helped Makoto to be happy.

I laughed too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope it isn't too weird, cause I tried to focus more on the conversations this time.
> 
> References explained:
> 
> This Chapter has a few references to my favourite books series "Monogatari-Series" which is a part of Akira's and Makoto's conversations.
> 
> 1\. Makoto's clothes are a black and white version of the clothes Izuko Gaen wears in the anime (and most likely in the books too): http://bakemonogatari.wikia.com/wiki/Izuko_Gaen
> 
> 2\. Akira asking Makoto "You really know everything, don't you?" and her answer "I don't know everything, I only know what I know." Is a reference to the protagonist Koyomi Araragi and the student council president Tsubasa Hanekawa. He asks her this question sometimes and she gives him this answer.
> 
> 3\. Akira's urge to give Makoto his glasses are a reference to Tsubasa Hanekawa. She wears big glasses too (in the beginning): http://bakemonogatari.wikia.com/wiki/Tsubasa_Hanekawa
> 
> I like to compare Tsubasa Hanekawa with Makoto Niijima, cause they are really similar. Both are really smart, have family problems and both have another side that uses violence to release their stress.
> 
> The sentence: "I am in lesbians with you" is a reference to the movie Scott Pilgrim vs the world, were Scott says the same thing.
> 
> https://youtu.be/okCBsnVBXao


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First things first: Huge thanks to Uber who used her precious time again to correct my errors and to give me a good feeling about my work.
> 
> You can find her here: http://archiveofourown.org/users/Ubershooter
> 
> I originally just wanted to write the rest of chapter two but I was so into it that it got a bit longer and I wanted to post it. I am just a person without any patience, okay? 
> 
> I had fun writing this. I like the thought that Makoto jumps back and forward between being super smart and insane. I am also a huge fan of confusing dialogues and slapstick. So if some of you feel the urge to throw up while reading my stuff: Yes that is totally normal. I am a strange person. Deal with it.
> 
> If there is something you don't understand, please feel free to ask in the comments. Maybe it was a reference I forgot to explain or something. It would be cool in general if you guys were able to leave a comment.
> 
> Well, I hope at least a few people are able to enjoy this chapter.

Shortly after our conversation on the train, we arrived in Shinjuku. This part of Tokio wasn't really alive at that time of the day. At least the streets were pretty empty. I was glad that we changed our clothes. If we were still in our school uniforms, a police officer would have tackled us instantly. I looked at my phone. 17:13. That was good. We should be safe from shady guys that tried to sell us garbage or something dangerous, but the clubs and bars should be open. The last one was the goal of our journey.

"So you wanted to spend the day in Shinjuku?" She walked a few steps and looked around.

"I am sorry that I have to say that just out of the blue, but I have to make sure you know about this."

She turned around and said it without any facial expression.

"I am a girl."

It felt like one of this comedic anime scenes, where a character slowly falls to the side.

"Yes, Makoto. I am aware of this fact."

"Good." She waited for a few seconds before she hit me with another verbal punch into the guts.

"I am also not interested in other girls... at least not right now."

Did she know what she was saying? And what kind of information was that supposed to be? Was she that tired? Had her mind decided to shut down and let her mouth blabber random nonsense?

"I only wanted to make sure that you know that you can't cheer me up by bringing me to a strip club or something."

"Okay first: I am sure there is a male strip club somewhere around here and second: Who do you think I am? Some kind of pervert?"

"Yes. A caring pervert. I thought we came to this conclusion while we were talking on the train?"

"What? No, we didn't!"

"Oh, that is bad. Denying things that clearly happened is a behaviour that is found often by psychopaths. If you aren't a pervert, are you perhaps a psychopath who lured me here to kill me?"

"What kind of insane conclusion is that?"

I always wondered how it was when smart persons lost the control of their thoughts, cause they're tired or something else. Now I knew how it was.

It was terrifying.

"I am warning you! I am really strong! If you try to drag me into a dark alley I will break all your bones. Maybe I should drag you into an alley. I could cut cute smileys in your skin while you beg for mercy."

Apparently, she had reached level 36 of insanity and evolved into Haru. I dropped to my knees and begged.

"No! I am just a pervert! Let me be a caring pervert again! Please!"

* * *

It took me five more minutes to get Makoto to move. I tried to talk to her, but the girl was enjoying it more to talk about all the ways she could defend herself (or kill me) if I did something wrong. In the end, I just grabbed her hand. To my surprise, she didn't attack me with aikido moves or spit acid in my eyes (exaggeration). She just looked at me and followed my steps. That was good. We finally could reach our destination. The only thing that could stop us now, was that Sae Niijima saw her little sister holding hands with a boy and decided to do a dropkick on the poor idiot. I have to admit that I found this idea really funny until I realized that I was that poor idiot. On the way to the other end of the street, I saw Chihaya talking with a customer. I waved. She smiled at me and winked. I knew what she was thinking. Or what everyone else was thinking. I was holding hands with a girl in a red light district. It was hard to think something platonic about this.

I stopped in front of a building with a big glowing neon sign.

"Crossroads

Makoto's eyes were glued to the name. The light gave her face a light pink colour. She didn't say anything. For a moment I couldn't hear anything. No noise. Nothing. Not the talking of the few people that walked around. Not the sound of their quick steps. Just plain white nothing. All I wanted to hear was her reaction.

"So this is the place?" She asks without raising an eyebrow. "Are you into cross-dressing?"

"No, I am just working-"

"That's a shame. You would look lovely as a girl, Akira! Just think about it! A skirt and black kneesocks and-"

She started to design a gender bent version of me and I was impressed by the amount of detail she put into it. There is a saying that there are two people that are always telling the truth. Small children and drunk adults. I wasn't sure which of the two Makoto was.

"- and you would also look cute with two braids. Oh, and you should wear your aviator glasses. I think they're really attractive."

"... Thank you..."

I had to admit that this sentence made me a bit happy. Noticing that she didn't shake off my hand, that was still holding her's, boasted this feeling even more. I bet Voldemort was this happy when he killed Harry Potter in the Forbidden Forest. Oops, spoiler.

"So... shouldn't we go in?"

Makoto's question brought me back to reality.

"Yeah, sure!"

* * *

Lala Escargot was a nice person and the owner of the bar Crossroads. Her hair had a purple colour and the Kimono she was wearing was a lack with some golden parts. "Oh, Akira-chan you are here today? A bit early I guess. There won't be any customers for the next three hours." She noticed Makoto and her voice was suddenly an octave higher. "I am so sorry. I didn't notice that you had a-"

She paused and waited. I didn't know for what, but Makoto did. She smiled.

"I am a girl."

"-a girl with you! Sorry that I had to ask sweetheart, but you see where you are!"

She waved casually at the "Crossroads"-sign above the bar and laughed. "Not all of my customers are cross-dressing but the ones who do are really dedicated and since you came here, I thought you were one-two. But it is really hard to tell the difference sometimes, you know? One time I talked with a bearded truck driver for eight hours and suddenly he starts talking about his menstruation cycle." She laughed again, with a deep but warmhearted voice. Makoto giggled a bit. She seemed to enjoy the conversation.

"Oh, I am sorry I shouldn't be here and interrupt you two. If you need me, I am in the back." She vanished behind a purple curtain and I was alone with Makoto.

"So why did you bring me to a place like this?"

"I thought it would be good for you to get out of the student council room and go somewhere totally different. I bet you have never been in a place like this, have you?

"No. But I like it here." She looked at her shirt that was coloured pink and blue from the soft neon lights. "It is really relaxing. But why can you just walk behind the counter like that?"

"I work here sometimes and I am doing a good job. Apparently, I am easy to talk to and the customers like me a lot. That's why I am welcome here. Lala-Chan even allowed me to invite friends."

"So our leader is even popular by crossdressers? That means you're really hot stuff!"

She froze. It looked like she noticed her lose mouth.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't think this through. Sorry! I guess the atmosphere in here is just too relaxing. "

I didn't tell her that she wasn't in control of her mouth the whole day and just smiled, turned on the music and started to mix a drink with the bottles behind me. I saw Lala work with these often enough so I knew what I was doing. I didn't use any alcohol of course. 

"Here try this. It is rather refreshing. After this, you will feel better. I promise."

I placed a small glass with a red liquid, ice cubes, a green leave and a dark red berry in front of her. The student council president looked at it sceptically.

"Don't worry. It doesn't contain any alcohol."

She took the glass and watched the ice cubes moving around. If this was some kind of obscure mystery novel, she would start to tell me a life lesson that is based on ice cubes that will later help me to defeat some ghost or demon (I read some weird books, okay?). Instead, she just emptied the glass in one gulp and slammed the glass on the table.

"That was really good. Was what that?"

"It's called _Black Widow_. It's made with blackberries, basil leaves, Tequila, lime juice and agave nectar. I left out the Tequila, of course."

"So you are not only skilled when it comes to coffee, but also when it comes to drinks."

"Well, it just feels nice standing behind a counter and serving people. Also, you get to talk with a lot of different people. Did I tell you that a German tourist visited Leblanc a few weeks ago, while I was working? It was a Saturday, I believe. We talked all day and she taught me a few things about her language."

"Really? That sounds amazing! Can you say something in German?"

I tried to stand as straight as possible and bowed down.

"Guten Morgen, gnädiges Fräulein. Darf ich ihnen eine Getränk anbieten?"

She laughed.

"That was really cool. Almost like a real foreigner. But I believe the correct thing to say is _"ein Getränk"_ not _"eine Getränk"_. I believe I read something about it in a book some time ago."

It hurt. I knew that she was smarter than me, but I didn't know that she was on such an insane level.

I am trying to impress you! Could you at least give me the feeling of being worth looking at you? Why are you making this so hard for me?

I sighed.

"You really know everything, don't you?"

"I don't know everything. I don't know what you want to do after school, for example. Do you want to work as a barista or a barkeeper?"

I nodded. Another point to Makoto Niijima. If someone was interested here is a table with the points:

**Akira Kurusu 0 : ∞ Makoto Niijima**

She laughed shyly and scratched the back of her head. "Sorry."

"Nevermind. What about you? You said that you wanted to become a police officer right?"

"Yes. I wanted to become a police officer like my father. Oh, that reminds me. I wanted to ask you something. You never talked about your family. That is something I don't know!"

She smiled softly. I was sure she could melt any heart away with that smile.

"What is your father doing, for example. Please tell me."

"... I don't know... never met him."

"What? And your Mom?"

"My mom is like a Jack of all trades. I think that is the only thing where we have something in common."

I laughed and whipped over the counter.

"She did a lot of jobs so we could afford to live a normal life. Later I started working too, to pay for the books and everything I needed for school. She didn't really like me."

"That is sad. A mother should always love her child."

"Do you really think so? I think she has the right to dislike me. If you think about it, I just appeared and ruined her life. If something similar would happen to you, would you be okay with just taking care of the child?"

"... I just think receiving a child is something that you should think through. It is nothing that you should do out of the blue."

"I am sure that my mom and my dad thought a lot about this. You know, I don't think my parents had a divorce or something. She never told me about my dad, but my mom was always calm when I asked about him. To be honest, that was the only time she was a bit friendly to me."

God, that sounded way too sad! I was killing the mood.

"I think my dad died or went missing and my mother wasn't prepared to raise me alone. She had to do a lot of part-time jobs and didn't have the time to follow her dreams or find a new lover. She felt imprisoned. When I went to school she started to date again and that was when we totally stopped talking. But I am glad that she started to date that guy from Tokyo. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here."

"What?"

"Oh, did I not tell you? Sojiro only took me in cause a few customers of him and _my parents_ -"

I spoke these two words extra slow.

"- knew each other."

Makoto looked at me. Her eyes looked like she was about to cry

"I am so sorry to hear that. That must have been horrible."

"Don't think about it. I am here in Tokyo now. And we are here to get yourself relaxed and not sad."

I placed another glass on the counter in front of her.

"Here try this. It will help you to think about something else."

She took the glass without asking and gulped it down. She choked. Her hand was not fast enough to reach her mouth and the drink landed on the counter.

"What was in there!"

"It's called a bloody Kirby. I think it is a variation of the Bloody Mary Cocktail."

"And how do you make this cocktail?"

A few tears run down her eyes.

"Well, normally with Vodka, but I didn't use Vodka cause you're a minor, so you had just a glass full of tomato juice and Tabasco sauce. But you see, you're not sad anymore. I was right."

"And now it is only fair that you drink a glass of that stuff too!"

"No, sorry. I really don't like Tabasco."

"Oh, really!"

She grabbed my cheeks with both of her hands and pulled me closer. Then she kissed me. It was fascinating. I couldn't taste the tomato juice or the Tabasco. Her lips tasted like the blackberries from before. Or maybe I just didn't notice the taste, because I was too busy with trying to understand what just happened. She pulled her hands back and sat down again. Her baseball cap had fallen off and strands of her hair stood out in every direction. We just stood there and stared at each other.

_What should I say now? Tell her that I like her? Sounds like a good idea. It would be stupid to pretend that just didn't happen._

"Makoto..."

I had to tell her.

"Makoto... I..."

I had to tell her... Now or never!

"Makoto... I... I really hate Tabasco!"

"Yeah. Me too!"

_Nice. I'm gonna die alone with 1000000 cats! Nicely done me! The girl you like kissed you and now you both feel like puking. What are you going to do now?_

I handed Makoto a bottle of water and grabbed another one for myself. We both finished them in under a minute.

"Well," I coughed. "You know what they say about dates: If the first is the worst, the rest will be the best!"

Makoto started laughing. Tears were still running down her cheeks.

"I am pretty sure that you just made that up."

She sat down and looked at the counter. Then she looked into my eyes. Her lips were forming that warm smile again.

"You called that a date... so we just had a real date. "

"Well, if you didn't like it, we could have another _real_ date."

"No, no, it was good. I am having a lot of fun. And I have to admit that that was the hottest kiss I ever had."

I chuckled. At least I did something right today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked my fanfiction please leave a comment. And if some things are hard to read please tell me and I try to fix it.
> 
> Have a nice day.
> 
> The cocktails aren't really special but here is a website that have a lot of them. 
> 
> https://www.liquor.com/


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter should have been online yesterday, but for some reason, I wasn't able to access the site were Uber uploaded the corrected version. Big thanks to Uber again, for correcting my errors and mistakes and stuff.
> 
> I tried to improve my writing style a bit by using more and different words. Everyone has to broaden their horizons sometimes and the English language has so many interesting and beautiful words.

_[ Today (Sunday), Café Leblanc, Yongen Jaya ]_

"Wait, so you just had a lot of weird conversations and then she kissed you with tabasco in her mouth? You two have some weird stuff going on, you know that?" Ryuji stared at the young barista in disbelief. The black-haired boy observed his facial expression for a few seconds before he answered.

"Okay, first: I am sure you are just jealous that I kissed a girl! Second: If you think that I had _weird conversations_ , you never talked to Futaba while she's half asleep. It's like listening to GLaDOS having a seizure."

"Hey!" The geek protested loud from somewhere in the background. "Can we please get to the point that explains how all this stuff happened?"

She pointed at Akira's bruised face. Everyone else was confused when she pointed at the attic.

"Wait... what's in the attic?" Ryuji looked at Futaba with a questioning look. But in the same moment, he remembered something about the café. Something crucial. "Wait a minute. Futaba did you ever remove your spy stuff from the café?"

He waited for an answer.

He didn't get an answer.

He knew that meant _'no'_.

He turned around to Akira again.

"What happened in the attic? Tell us! Now! No more confusing details!"

There was a brief moment of awkward silence.

"...But I need the details to remember everything that happened."

_[ The day before (Saturday), Somewhere, Shinjuku]_

We walked around a lot after the bar started to get crowded. Many people were walking around the streets, but nobody paid attention to us. Maybe there were too many people to notice two minors. Or maybe there were too many minors? Like the saying: _You can't see the forest because there are too many trees in the way!..._ or something like that. It was great. I think that Shinjuku is, if you take away the criminals and corruption, a real magical and bewitching place. Everything was bright and lustrous. Shiny neon signs everywhere, music from every direction melted together and created a strange symphony that was conveyed by the various conversations of the men and women who were filling the roads. 

It was fun.

We had fun.

So much fun that we didn't even notice that we were slowly walking away from all the hustle and bustle. I can't remember where exactly it was, but we talked a lot about the area and I told her some stories I heard from a friend.

"Really?"

Makoto giggled.

"Did that really happen?"

I laughed.

"Of course! Ohya-San is a reporter. She was there!"

"Ohya-San sounds like a companionable character." Makoto wiped a streak of dark hair out of her face. "You sound like a Yakuza boss when you tell about the stories that happened here, you know that? Do you know many people around here?"

"No, not really." Even that was an exaggeration. To be honest, I only knew three people around here. Lala-Chan, Ohya-San, and Chihaya-San and when I was even more honest, they were only two and a half, because Lala-Chan didn't talk much about herself.

"Well,..." I just started a sentence without knowing what to say. I just didn't want the conversation to end.

"I know a fortune teller."

"What! Really?"

"Yeah. It is really interesting to talk with her, but she can be a bit pessimistic sometimes."

"Can she tell my fortune? That would be really exciting!"

"Sorry, I think that she already went home. It is quite late, you know?"

"But she can look in the future! She knows that people want to see her and that's why she is waiting for us right now!"

"First: After that logic, fortune tellers would never go to sleep, because they would wait for everyone, and second: You are way too excited for that. To be honest, I never thought that you were the kind of person who believed in something like fortune telling?"

"I don't, but I think it would be interesting to visit such a person. And the thought of knowing what will happen to you in the future is kinda alluring, don't you think so too?"

She was right. I believe nearly every person who got the chance to know his or her future would take the chance and ask as much as possible.

I should mention that I tried to reach Chihaya while I was talking with Makoto but, to my disappointment, I was right.

 _Chat_  
**Chihaya:** Sorry, I am at home already.  
**Chihaya:** Maybe another time.  
**Chihaya:** By the way, I read your fortune today.  
**Chihaya:** If you encounter a police officer today, try to avoid him, or you suffer.

If frowned. _Thank you, you are as clear as always._ I looked back at Makoto, who was staring at someone in the distance. "Hey, are you okay? You look really concerned. Is everything alrig-" I froze. I was sure my life turned into a sick joke of the universe today. A few feet away from us stood a policeman. Uniform and badge. I felt uncomfortable. Like telling someone that he should be careful while jumping face forward into a bear trap. I didn't know what to do. "Makoto, let's go over there okay?"

I grabbed her hand and wanted to walk away to hide in the crowd but there was no crowd. We were far away from the crowd, from Crossroads, from the Trainstation. Far away from every place that we could use to hide and Makoto didn't move! She just didn't move. She stood there, frozen in time, glaring at the officer.

"He looks suspicious."

"What? Why! Well, if he is dangerous we should leave him alone."

"Hey, you!"

She screamed at him. She just screamed at him. Makoto Niijima. The favourite student of many teachers. The daughter of a police officer. The little sister of a prosecutor. The girl who wanted to be an officer one day. That girl just screamed at an officer with a deadly glare.

The man turned around and walked towards us.

I prayed silently. This was horrible. A police officer alone was a problem for me, but I received a message that told me I will regret meeting one especially today. 

I came to a very important conclusion.

My life sucks.

Hard.

"Hey, you kids! What are you doing here?"

"Nothing!" My voice was louder than I wanted it to be.

Makoto continued her deadly glare.

He stood before us. He was a bit skinny but really tall. A few streaks of his bright brown hair were covering his eyes. He looked angry.

"Didn't you hear me? What are you kids doing here? Answer me. And don't say _'nothing'_ again. This doesn't look like _'nothing'_ lad! What's your name?"

I don't know why, but I lied to him before I could think about it.

"My name is Ren. Ren Amamiya!"

"Okay, listen up Dan Mama Mia! Are you here on vacation? Your name sounds like you are Italian or something?"

"Bueno!"

... I am a failure.

"Hm..."

The man eyed me carefully. But before I could make my situation worse Makoto stepped between us. "Leave him alone and explain yourself. What are you doing here?"

"I am a police officer! I am here to look after students who think it's funny to run around the streets at night! Do your parents know that you're here, girly? You don't want me to tell them that you're here right?"

"You didn't answer my question!"

"And you didn't answer my questions, girly!"

He crossed his arms and looked at her with a grin on his face.

"But you know what? I can understand that you kids wanted to see a bit of the adult world around here, so I let you go. For a small payment of course!"

My heart just stopped for a second... or maybe three. It was painful enough to listen to the two fighting, but knowing that we encountered a corrupt cop was even worse. But Makoto wasn't impressed at all.

"You know, if you don't to pay me, I have to call some more officers to escort you home, kids!"

"Do it!"

"What!"

The cop and I screamed at the same time. Was she serious? Wait... why did the man scream like that?

I observed the man. He was still looking down at Makoto, but he looked angry.

"Don't try to be strong, girly! I can call twenty policemen to this place right away! Do you understand!"

"Do it. Grab your phone, tell them that officer Skinny McDouchbag is here and needs help to fight against two students! Oh no, wait, you have to be a real police officer to do that!"

What? I looked at the man again. He was still angry, but he seemed to get more and more nervous. Then it hit me. We are in Shinjuku! This place was full of frauds and conmen. And Makoto's dad was a police officer, so she knew more about their uniform and work. She must have found something that exposed him as an imposter (or maybe I am just really stupid) and her frivolous sense of justice forced her to unmask him.

"And I am pretty sure that a real officer doesn't have a gang tattoo!"

I never saw something like that on him, but he instantly grabs his collar and tried to hide something.

"So, are you going to stop that or do you want me to call twenty real police officers, girly?" She said that the last word extra loud. I didn't know what to do, but the conman didn't know either. He decided to turn around and run away, but Makoto grabbed his arm!

"Hey, wait!" I screamed. "That's really dangerous!"

But it was too late. The man shoved her away and she was falling backwards. I tried to catch her.

The back of her head hit my face with full force.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would be really happy if you would leave a comment. Feel free to tell me if I use a word wrong or if something is hard to read or your general opinion on the story/chapter. See you soon! Raven.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry that it took me so long to upload this chapter. I wanted to upload this chapter(-part?) before I started to work on the other stuff. I made a poll for some one-shots and I will publish them as soon as possible with some other stuff. 
> 
> PS: This chapter can contain some errors because my beta-reader is really busy right now. I want to apologize if you find some really stupid error.
> 
> PPS: Please read the notes at the end for some updates and more details.
> 
> PPPS: Comments are like food for authors and I am starving, so please have mercy!

A warm smell surrounded me. I was laying in my bed in the attic in Leblanc. I looked around. Morgana wasn't here, but someone was downstairs making curry. Some damn good curry, too. It smelled wonderful. Whoever was making it knew what they're doing.

I decided to go downstairs. It was warm and somehow really bright. It was way too bright. But the light didn't hurt. It was rather enjoyable. The TV was turned on. Some kind of music channel I couldn't recognise. I recognized the song that was playing as "Mr Blue Sky". Everything was warm and somehow cosy... even more than usual.

"Oh, you woke up!"

Behind the counter was a girl with brown hair and red eyes. She wore the apron I am wearing when I am working. She looked at me with half-lid eyes and placed a cup of coffee on the counter.

"I thought you never wake up. Here I made coffee for you." 

"Thank you."

I sat down and looked at the cup in front of me. It smelled delicious. I took a sip. The taste and temperature were perfect.

"I didn't know you can cook curry... or make such an amazing coffee. Where did you learn that?"

She chuckled. "Oh, you are so funny."

"Okay... what exactly is funny?"

"Oh, don't tell me you forgot how you taught me all that, honey?"

She winked. I nearly choked on my coffee. What?

"Oh, right. The curry. I bet you're hungry. Wait a minute sweety it won't take long."

She turned around and I was greeted with her back.

Her bare back.

She was just wearing an apron. Nothing more.

My eyes went lower and lower. Don't look like that! I am guy okay? I bet you all imagined that something like that happens to you! The difference is that it really happened to me! Haha! This can't be a dream, right?... right?...

* * *

I woke up on a street somewhere in the outer parts of Shinjuku. I was just staring at the night sky for a moment.

"GOD DAMNED!"

I screamed. Of all the dreams I ever had, why did this one have to end so soon?

"Oh my god, are you alright?"

Makoto's head appeared in my sight. She looked worried. It was embarrassing to look into her eyes after such a dream. I felt ashamed.

"Are you in pain, Akira?"

"No... why?"

"...Because your nose is bleeding."

"I AM SO SORRY!"

She gave me a confused look.

"Why are you sorry? It was my head who hit your face, right? So it was my fault that your nose started bleeding... right?"

"Oh! Yes, yes! That is the reason! You are totally right! As always!"

Who knows? I am Japanese and there has to be a reason for this nosebleed-cliché in Anime? There is always a bit truth in everything. And after such a dream... oh my god I'm a bad human being, aren't I?

"I am so sorry. Does it hurt a lot?"

"No, it is okay."

It really was. Or, to be more specific, my entire face was numb. I didn't feel anything. Only the warm of the blood that was running down my chin. It tasted like iron. But all in all, I felt pretty normal.

"AAAH, DAMNED!" The girl's sudden scream nearly scared me to death. "Now I hurt you, and that fake-policeman idiot got away!"

_Well, I would run away too. You are really scary sometimes._

Makoto stood up and looked around. She was looking at me. Then at the direction where the man had gone too.

Back to me.

Back to down the street.

Back to me.

She really wanted to go after that guy, but she also didn't want to leave me alone.

She sighed.

"Are there any shops or restaurants we can enter to get you a first-aid-kit or something?"

Apparently, Makoto had decided to stay with me. Looks like justice had to wait a bit.

Wait am I more important than justice?

_Wouldn't that make me a villain?_

While she was searching for potential help, I checked the new message on my phone. It was Chihaya.

 _Chat_  
**Chihaya:** I don't want to sound like a stalker, but, you know Clairvoyance and stuff. I saw that.  
**Akira:** The blood or the butt?  
**Chihaya:** ...  
**Chihaya:** What?  
**Chihaya:** How hard did her head hit you? Are you alright?  
**Akira:** Nevermind. I am okay. Thanks for asking.

"Let's go in this direction!" Makoto pointed down the street. "Isn't Yongen Jaya in this, too?"

Okay, what was that supposed to mean? 

_Either we find a place to ask for help or we end up at your place?_

I know we were travelling by train most of the time, but she had to be aware of how big Tokio was, right? You can't just 'walk' from point A to point E because D alone was twice as big as the two.

Wait, did I just made a sex joke by accident?

Man, it feels like this story is getting more and more meaningless.

Lost. Just like we were.

"Do you need help getting up?"

I didn't notice it until now, but I was staring at her. What an awkward situation.

"No. No, I am fine. So we are just going this way then?"

"Yes, let's just take this way, I am sure we find something for your nose."

She smiled. It was a comforting smile. But the important things were her eyes. There weren't as empty as they were before in the student council room. Maybe she just needed some action after working that long without having a break.

But still. Walking around Tokio at night wasn't a good idea. Sojiro would scold me if he knew about this. And Sae-San would... I don't want to think about it.

"I am sure it will be fun! Maybe we meet someone interesting!"

"No, we won't! I am sure we will meet terrible people."

"Oh, come on. It can't be that bad."

"I don't want to burst your bubble, but usually when you walk around in the city at night you don't find help. You find robbers, homeless people and drug dealers... and fast food nobody wanted to eat."

"Oh, come on. I was trapped in the student council room for two weeks and now you deny me a nightly walk through the streets!  
You invited me to be here with you and now you don't want to spend time with me? I don't think that is fair! That's not fair at all. You are really mean Akira."

"So, you want to go for a random nightly stroll around the city?"

"Well, I wouldn't call it a stroll. It's more like... a romantic walk."

Romantic... Walk... Romantic... Walk?... Romantic?

"So you agree?"

_I guess I have to agree. How could I not agree to go on a romantic walk with my favourite student council president?"_

"Neat."

I stared at Makoto. Did she just say 'neat'? How could my favourite student council president just say such an unfitting word?

I repeated my question, but this time I said it out loud.

"Did you just say 'neat'?"

"Yes. Why? Is it that strange for me to use that word?"

"Yes!"

I don't know why, but hearing Makoto, one of the smartest persons I knew, saying the word 'neat' felt like an insult to me, and everybody else we knew. Girl, you spend the entire day with making me feel like an idiot who is up against a goddess of wisdom (and a shitload of trivial facts). Why are you ruining this with a single word? Why are you destroying every illusion of you I have in my mind? I felt like crying.

I bowed down.

"Niijima-San!"

"Please don't say that! I feel old."

"Niijima-Senpai!"

"That sounds like I am the boy now."

"Mako-Chan!"

"Who are you? Haru?"

"Please, promise me, that you never use such simple words again! Can you promise that?"

"Is it that much out of character?"

"It's horrifying."

Makoto put a finger to her lips and ignored the dangerously flickering streetlights around us.

To be fair, I did the same thing. Her 'Let me think about that-" face was just too cute. How could something change your feelings that fast?

"That is bad. I just wanted to add some spice to my character."

"Why now?"

"Well, I am already wearing really homely clothes in public, which is something I normally wouldn't do. So I thought I might add some more casual words to my normal vocabulary, too."

"Did you consider the fact that your Metaverse-self is an ever-angry woman in spikey biker gang attire, who runs over enemies with a motorcycle and punches the shit out of everything that is still able to breathe until it gives up on living! If you added more spice to that, it would be way too much. No one could eat you!"

She gave me a suggestive grin.

"That was a metaphor!" I sighed.

"Geeze, what happened to you? Did you hit your head that hard? What happened to the adventures and witty Joker?"

"He died when he found out that his precious student council president is an adrenaline junky who runs around the streets at night and says 'neat'!"

She was kinda risky in the Metaverse already, but this was too much.

"Would you be happy if I rephrase my statement about walking the streets of Tokio at night?"

"Yes, I would be happy."

Makoto turned, stretched her arms out and yelled: "Malicious!"

"......"

"Was that okay?"

"Yeah... that was okay."

It was acceptable.

"It was a mix between the words 'magnificent' and 'delicious'."

That wasn't acceptable at all!

"Makoto, I don't know what exactly is delicious in this situation. Also, you are aware of the fact that the word 'malicious' has a totally different meaning right?"

Her eyes went wide.

"Yes, you are right Akira! You are so smart! I would have never noticed."

Stop giving me credit for something like that! You just don't want to admit that you outsmarted yourself!... Or... wait, was she making fun of me?

Makoto, how could you? My fragile male pride.

"Well, now that were done talking, I would like to go and search for a first-aid kid or something."

She turned around and started to walk away.

"Oh, and if you wanna know: The delicious part about this is, that you are here with me."

Makoto winked and started running.

I was left behind in the darkness, with one single thought in my mind.

_She thinks I am delicious!"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to admit that I struggled a lot with this chapter because originally, something totally different should happen here, but it just didn't feel right and I needed a long time to think of something else because I was stuck on one storyline. I will post a chapter after the last chapter of this fanfiction. This bonus chapter will contain a lot of stuff like the "Alternativ Chapter 5" and "Alternativ Ending" with explanations and commentary and stuff. But don't be scared, I won't abandon this fanfiction, no matter how much I struggle with writing it. It is so much fun to write this stories and your comments never fail to make me happy!
> 
> UPDATE: To get back on track and to get some new ideas, I am going to upload some one-shots. The one-shots will appear in the order that was decided to the poll on the Amino.
> 
> The one-shots will be:
> 
> 1\. P5 Akechi X Haru
> 
> 2\. P5 Steamed Hams
> 
> 3\. Persona Crossover-Collection ( A collection of one-shots)
> 
> 4\. P3 Minato X Yukari
> 
> I also will start to translate (or better rewrite) some of my old D.Gray-Man fanfictions and I will post a part of a Monogatari-Series Fanfiction. There will be also some Original Stories. My focus will be on the Persona-Fanfictions of course.
> 
> So, if you like this fanfiction, you might want to take a look at my other Persona-Fanfictions or my other post in general. And if not, that's okay too. Have a nice day/night and see you next time. Bye-Bye!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is basically Chapter 5 part 2, but I have already more chapters for this story than I had expected, so I think this is okay. I know that the story moves slowly, but the next chapter will have more progress. Anyways, I hope this chapter won't disappoint you.
> 
> If you liked it I would be happy if you leave a comment.
> 
> Also huge thanks to Ubershooter who beta-read this and corrected some errors.

We kept walking around. We just walked and talked about all kind of things. At this point, I totally forgot what we were looking for until Makoto reminded me (I am sure she forgot it too and only remembered it when she turned around to see my face).

"How is your nose? Does it still hurt?"

"No, it feels just numb again."

That was a lie. My entire face felt numb, except for my nose, which was burning. 

"Are you sure?"

I didn't want her to worry about me. This evening should help her calm down a little and it is already going downhill. She should not worry about someone like-

"AAH!"

She touched my nose. Or rather, she stabbed it with her finger.

"You lied to me!" She exclaimed, "It still hurts!"

"To be fair, you have really sharp fingernails!"

"You could have just told me that it still hurts! We could have walked in the direction of a hospital or something."

"I just didn't want you to worry about me, okay?"

"Why?"

"Because this is all wrong. This entire day should help you to calm down and relax a bit. Now we are walking in around without a goal and we had to deal with that annoying conman!"

"Well, I think that conman had to deal with us. Mostly, me. And I don't mind taking a nightly stroll through the city. I know I talked a lot of nonsense on the way here. But the bar was really nice, too. It was a bit mean of you to poison me with Tabasco -"

I flinched when I heard the word "poison".

"- but it wasn't that bad, after all. It gave me the chance to kiss you."

She smiled and winked at me.

It felt like I was swimming in ice-water. How could something so casual as winking look so cool? I, Akira Kurusu, the Joker, was dumbstruck.

Makoto laughed at herself.

"Oh god, why did I wink? That must have looked stupid."

"It didn't!" I blurted it out like an idiot. "You should wink more often. It makes you look attractive. Not that you weren't attractive before! It just makes you more... attractive. I mean, like... yeah... I don't know."

Did I just yell out all that stuff?

Makoto blushed.

"So... you like me?"

She whispered the question.

"...Yeah."

"So you liked the kiss, too? Because you didn't do anything about it."

"Yes... well, except for the Tabasco-taste."

"That was your fault."

"Yeah, I know." I chuckled, "But it was worth the kiss."

She chuckled too. "I am glad you liked it. I liked it too, you know?"

There was a short silence (I wish I would get 100¥ every time I said that line today). I am sure this was the most uncomfortable silence I had ever experienced. Two people who confessed that they liked each other now just stopped talking. You could argue that love is a complicated subject and teenagers without any real experience don't really know how to handle such a situation or what to do after it, but I am sure you can blame the author for this. Someone wasn't able to come up with a better dialogue. 

We both just stared down into the water.

Wait... water?

I wasn't paying attention to our surroundings while talking to Makoto. And we had talked a lot. About spicy characters and romantic walks... and about me being delicious. Man, that was a waste of time, wasn't it?

"Makoto... where are we?"

We were standing on a bridge. Around us were a lot of different trees. I could see a pavilion in the distance. The water under us was reflecting the moonlight.

"I think we are in Shinjuku Gyoen Park."

She took out her phone.

"No... Akira, my phone ran out of battery. Can you look at a map?"

"Of course."

I looked at my phone and waited for the navigation app to start.

Meanwhile, Makoto looked around and tried to find signs or something like that.

A map of Tokyo popped up on the screen. The girl was right. We were in Shinjuku Gyoen Park. If we walked a bit more into our original direction, we would be ending up in Shibuya.

I looked up to Makoto again, to tell her about our position.

Makoto was leaning against the railing of the bridge. She looked up into the night sky. Her skin looked ghostly under the moonlight and her red eyes seemed to glow like rubies. She looked unnaturally beautiful. At least for me.

A beautiful girl in the moonlight. I felt like the hero of a light novel. Was she a vampire? Do I need to defeat three vampire hunters with the help of an old guy, who always wears shorts and Hawaii-shirts?

While I had this thought I took a photo of her. I don't know why I felt the urge to just take a photo of her. I just did it without thinking about it. Well, at least I have a nice background for my phone now.

"Hey, don't just take pictures of people without asking!"

She scolded me. Maybe it was because of her cap or her messy hair, but her scolding made her look quite childish. It was kind of cute. I took another photo.

"I said stop that!" She sighed. "At least show me how the pictures look!"

"No!"

"What? Why?"

"Because you're a girl!"

"Excuse me?"

Well, that was pretty dumb from me. Why am I always ending up in this situations?

"Okay, I noticed that you're trying to kill me with your eyes right now, and I have to say, this death glare suits you really well. But first: Let me explain before you execute me like some red-haired domina!"

"You have ten seconds!"

"You know how girls always say _That looks horrible! Delete that!_ when they see a picture of themselves? I am pretty sure you would say that!"

"Come on! Just show me the pictures!"

She walked up to me and looked at my phone. Her head was dangerously close to my own. She slightly leaned against my shoulder.

"That looks horrible! Delete that!"

"I called it!"

"No really! This looks awful! It looks like a picture of a hobo."

"My favourite hobo!"

"Gross! Delete it!"

"No, I like this picture!"

"Delete it. Please! It's awful!"

"No! I like this photo! You look beautiful!"

The moonlight emphasised her beauty. Does that sound creepy? Well, I don't care. I won't apologize. It's the truth!

"I said deleted it!"

"No! I won't delete it! Maybe I will send it to everyone on my contact list to share your beauty."

"If you think that's a nice thing to say then you're wrong! It's pretty scary when so many people have a picture of you. Now give me your phone, so I can delete this!"

She tried to grab it, but I held it out of reach. She tried again and I had to position my body between her and the phone. Then Makoto did something I never expected.

She jumped on me. She jumped on my back and wrapped her legs around my stomach. Her right hand tried to reach my right hand, which was holding the phone. Her left arm was wrapped around my neck.

I quickly send the pictures to someone in my contact list.

"No! Akira, stop!"

I had to make sure that they knew how important these pictures are, so I had to call them and tell them to not delete it!

I looked at the screen.

##  _Calling Becky..._

That was good! No, it was great! More than great!

A timer appeared on the screen. The call had started. Becky had answered her phone!

"Becky! Can you hear me?"

No answer. The phone was too far away to hear her voice, but that was okay. I just had to tell her.

"Becky! Whatever you do, never delete the pictures I sent to you! There are important!"

"Noooo!" Makoto was yelling in my ear. "Why are you fighting me? I am trained in Aikido and I am stronger than you!"

"These pictures are super important! Protect them with your life!"

"Akira! Stop that! I know enough about police work to hide a dead body and I am pretty sure I can crush your head just with my thighs!"

"Is this a threat or an offer?"

I tried to keep my balance while Makoto was running amok on my back. I turned around a lot to prevent her from reaching my phone. But suddenly, something was pressing against my legs. It was the railing of the bridge.

And before I realised it, I was falling towards the water.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I looked up a map for this chapter and you would pass Shinjuku Gyoen Park if you wanted to walk from Shinjuku to Shibuya. I had to re-write the storyline because I kinda lost interest in my old idea. Also, I couldn't really come up with something good for this idea. It would have been funny but it would have ruined the relationship between Akira and Makoto a little bit. I also decided to finish this chapter, because I was struggling with the Persona 4 FF. I jump a lot between projects when I have writer's block (which might be the reason why I need so long to finish something). But I stop crying now.
> 
> References:  
> "I felt like the hero of a light novel. Was she a vampire? Do I need to defeat three vampire hunters with the help of an old guy, who always wears shorts and Hawaii-shirts?" = This is a reference to my favourite book series "Monogatari-Series".
> 
> "Let me explain before you execute me like some red-haired domina!" = He is describing Mitsuru Kirijo from Persona 3. She really looks like a Domina with her black boots and stuff.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this took me way longer than expected. Not because this was hard to write, but I had problems with the content and what exactly should be in this chapter. I removed some stuff from here that will happen in the next chapter. I hope you guys aren't too mad that you had to wait for this so long. I hope you can still enjoy it.

The water felt nice. I like taking baths. That's why I wouldn't complain about my situation back then. The water of the river was surprisingly clear. It wasn't cold either. The temperature was just right. I could float around like this for a long time, but there were other things, important things I had to do. Like breathing. I tried to stand up and noticed that the water wasn't as deep as I thought at first. I inhaled the fresh air of the park around me. Now that my skin and clothes were soaked, it was a bit chilly. I felt a hand grabbing my arm. Makoto, who seemed to be a bit more uncomfortable with the water, pulled herself up.

"Hey, what's going on over there?"

Someone was yelling from somewhere. I know this is not a really good description, but that was just how it is. I didn't know from where the yelling came, but apparently, the park had some sort of nightguard who was making sure no one was doing stupid stuff... like skinny dipping or throwing trash into the water. It didn't matter what he thought happened. The thing that mattered was that he did not find us like this! We had to hide somewhere. I looked at Makoto was still coughing.

Without thinking I grabbed her and dragged her under the bridge, where nobody would see us. 

"Hey! Is there somebody? Show yourself!" Someone was yelling from above. The water reflected the light of a flashlight. So it was some kind of nightguard. That wasn't good. I stared at the small waves that we had caused on the water. At the light of the flashlight. "Oh, come on! Did you really just throw garbage or something into the river? I have to fish that out on the next day, you know?" The light vanished. It looked like the nightguard was going somewhere else. Maybe he thought we were hiding somewhere in the park and wanted to find us. Maybe he just wanted to deal with this problem right away was going to get himself a coffee or an energy drink or something. I waited a minute or two. I don't know anymore. Then a muffled sound found my ear. To stay hidden, I had dragged Makoto under the bridge. I had one arm around her chest and one hand over her mouth. I don't know why exactly I did that, but I kept holding her like this even now. I removed my hand from her mouth.

"Sorry. Did I hurt you?"

"No, no, it's okay... it's just... could you...?"

I waited for her to finish her sentence, but for some reason, she couldn't. She squirmed a little in my grip, but it was like she tried to avoid moving too much. Something was poking into my arm.

"The water... is a bit cold isn't it?"

And then it hit me. So... someone decided to not wear a bra today huh?

I let her go and she instantly covered her chest. It wasn't like I could have seen anything, considering that I stood behind her, but the unexpected touch had surprised her. Damned. I fucked that up really bad. It was an awkward situation. Makoto looked at her wet clothes (wearing a with shirt turned out to be not a good idea, huh?).

"...So, Akira..." she turned around, still covering her chest. The rim of her cap was covering her eyes. Water was dripping from it. And then, Makoto did something I would have never expected.

"If this is your idea of getting a girl wet, then I have some bad news for you."

Ladies and gentlemen! Grab your Calenders! Mark this day! Makoto Niijima just made a dirty joke!

But why? Why in this moment, when she was already uncomfortable with what just happened? Uncomfortable with this entire situation? Or was that her way lighten up the mood. Just shouting out the first joke you can think of to make this situation less tense. Damned and I am just standing here staring at her like a zombie. I have to smile or something. I had to give her the best smile I had. My justice smile! The smile that tells everyone that things will be alright.

"Why are you grinning like that? What are you thinking about! Please stop. You're being creepy!"

NO! Makoto! My justice smile!

"Well, yeah, the water is a bit chilly, right? We should... probably go out of the water."

* * *

I was standing there looking at the river. I had wrung out my shirt and had put it back on. It was still kinda transparent, which wasn't such a huge problem for me. Running and jumping around in the Metaverse plus the training I did in the attic and at the gym with Ryuji had helped me get a pretty muscular body. I am not the kind of person who wants to show off, but if I didn't have another choice, it was okay. I was currently trying to get my jacket as dry as possible so I could lend it to Makoto, who was obviously more concerned about her transparent clothes. I turned my head a little, to look behind me. Makoto told me to turn around while she was wringing out her own shirt. The reason why she told me to do that was obvious. The reason why I didn't want to obey was obvious too. I looked at her. She had turned around and I was facing her back. The wet black pants were clinging to her form but that wasn't the centre of my attention. Makoto was also trying to get the water out of her shirt and to wring it dry she had to take it off. Yes, you heard right! I was facing Makoto Niijima's naked back. For you, a back might be not such a sexy or erotic thing, but for me everything on Makoto was wonderful. Especially when her wet skin was glistening under the moonlight. I might sound like Futaba (a pervert) here, but that sight was marvellous. Oh boy, I tell you: Those shoulder blades! Those shoulder blades were perfect! Is that some kind of fetish? Is that too strange?

I turned around again and concentrated on wringing out my jacket. Makoto should not walk around like that. At least not longer than necessary. I didn't want to share that view with anyone, after all. Yes, I am a selfish guy! That's why I will spend more time describing how I wrung out my jacket instead of describing the back of the goddess behind me! The water was running down my hands and arms but the jacket itself was mostly dry now. I just placed it on my shoulder and waited for Makoto to finish drying her shirt. I watched the reflection of the moon in the water. I checked my phone. 23:00. Great. One hour more and it would be Sunday. So, the school wasn't a problem. We wouldn't be too late or too tired for anything.

"Did you enjoy the view?" Makoto ask me while grabbing the jacket from my shoulder. I just stared at the water again. She put on my jacket and sat down next to me.

 _So you noticed, huh?_ Of course, she noticed.

"Well, I imagine it was some opportunity for you. But I guess it's just fair. I am wearing a black jacket now, while you have to walk around in a still transparent shirt. I can stare at you all you want. I know that sounds weird, but you got some nice shoulder blades."

Great! I am not crazy!

"Is your phone still working?" She pointed at my phone to change the topic.

"Of course. Phones are waterproof after all."

"Did you know that waterproofed phones aren't that common in other countries?" 

"What do you mean with that? Why aren't they waterproofed?"

"You know that nearly 95% of the phones who are sold in Japan are waterproofed because people take their phones within the shower or the bath, right?"

"Yeah, I know."

I always have my phone with me when I am taking a shower... or at least I had it with me when I had my own shower. Now that I have to use a bathhouse, wasting my time on my phone doesn't feel like a good idea.

"Well, in other countries, that is really rare. That's why most phones aren't waterproofed. And the other way around, because phones aren't waterproofed, people don't really take them with them when they are taking a shower."

A vicious cycle? Other countries are abnormal then.

"Wait, is your phone not waterproof? Did it broke?" I looked at her.

"No, no, no! It's working just fine. I just thought you were checking if your phone was still working."

She leaned her head to the side to look at my phone. Her head nearly touched my shoulder.

"Your phone looks alright. Doesn't seem to be broken."

She put a finger on the display to test if the touch screen was still working. Her head went a little lower. Then it jerked up again like she had trouble holding her head in this position. Her face went red. She started to make small annoying noises.

"Naaa.... damned..."

"Makoto... are you trying to lay your head on my shoulder?"

"... yeah... but it's not that easy..."

I chuckled. She was cute. I placed my hand on the back of her head and pushed it down a little until it rested on my shoulder. The water that was still in her hair started to run done my back, but I didn't care.

"Where is the brave and harsh Queen I talked to an hour ago. You know, the girl that thought I was delicious?" I grinned.

"Oh god, I really said that, right? Wait, why are you suddenly Joker? Where did the shy and awkward barista from an hour ago go?"

"I guess he died when he told you he likes you."

"So we switched roles then?"

"I guess..."

Is that a common thing? Like, boys get braver when they tell someone they like them, while girls get shyer or maybe weak? Like, a sign of trust or something? Can I be my true self around that person? I don't know.

"But I think it's okay. I like you when you're the smug Joker and I like you when you're the calm barista."

 _I like who you are_ , she said.

We just sat there staring at the water. I removed my hand from her head and hugged her.

"Can you promise me something Akira?"

"What is it?"

"When we tell this story to someone, let us keep out the part were I angered some criminal so hard that you got punched in the face."

"No, no, no. When I tell a story, I tell the full story!"

"But that's so embarrassing!"

"It was really painful for me! But maybe I can come up with some story. What if we had a bar fight-"

"That sounds unbelievable."

"- and we defeated, like, 50 scary rockers with knives and gas masks and when we are almost done, one guy stands back up and uses as a shield when you want to punch him."

"Wait, why am I the one who punched you know?"

"Because you are the only one who is strong enough to hurt me! You are my Kryptonite."

She poked me in the side. "You're an idiot." But I saw her smile. She thought it was funny. I knew she liked the idea. I knew what movies she likes after all.

"What do you think? Will this nightguard come back soon?"

"I doubt that. He seemed really annoyed when he saw something was in the water. I think he just shut himself in a break room or something and drinks coffee until his shift is over. I wouldn't want to deal with such stuff either. And what do you think would happen if he finds us?" I pretended to hold a phone and started yelling. "Hello? Police? Help? There are two wet teenagers sitting in the grass peacefully! I am in great danger!"

"That sounds awful. Wet teenagers."

"But that describes us perfectly. Or would you prefer to hear the word MOIST?" I nearly screamed that word.

"Oh my god, please no!"

"What's wrong with the word MOIST! I noticed that you are pretty MOIST right now-OUH!"

She punched me. It was rather soft. I just laugh.

"That sounds gross!" She laughed too.

Just two teenagers fooling around. Call the police, mister nightguard.

"That's not the word I want to hear at all."

"And what do you want to hear?"

"... Say it again... say again that you like me."

"Okay." I smiled. I just can't do anything else when I am around Makoto. "I like you."

She placed a hand on my leg.

"I like you too."

I took her hand in my own.

"I really, really like you."

She was holding my hand with both of hers.

"I really, really like you too."

I turned my head to look into her red, beautiful eyes.

"I love you."

She removed my glasses to look into my own.

"I love you, too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked this chapter, please leave a comment. That would be really motivating. See you next time. Bye.


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